Grand Parkway Segment G at U.S. 59 opens Tuesday March 29, 2016

Grand Parkway Segment G at U.S. 59 opens Tuesday March 29, 2016

Segment G of the Grand Parkway, which runs west-east from I-45 to U.S. 59, will be open to the public on Tuesday March 29, 2016.

The newest segment of the Grand Parkway will intersect U.S. 59 in New Caney at Community Drive.

Raquelle Lewis, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Transportation said she expects the lanes on Segment G to be open to all drivers by rush hour on Tuesday March 29.

It will be free to drive from March 29 through April 4. From April 4 on the cost for Segment G will be $3.01, which will only be payable with an EZ Tag sticker.

Segment F, the stretch from U.S. 290 near Cypress to I-45 in Spring, opened Feb. 5, 2016.

Many county and local elected officials have said the 12.5-mile segment will radically reduce the time it will take for drivers in The Woodlands and other northern Houston suburbs to access U.S. 59, and is expected to reduce demand on local streets such as Riley Fuzzel Road.

Many residents seem glad for the new toll road in northern Harris County and southern Montgomery County and are hoping it will provide relief to congested local roads that have experienced significant congestion from increased population and real estate growth and development in the region.

But, will the new Grand Parkway segment increase rush hour congestion on U.S. 59 in LHA as Woodlands and Conroe commuters try the new route to bypass 45 traffic?

Opponents and transportation advocates have presented the argument that tollways and highway expansions promote even more development, sprawl and congestion in once-rural and traffic-free communities.

At a cost of $1.1 billion the Grand Parkway segments had been tentatively scheduled to open simultaneously by the end 2015 but experienced weather delays.

The next and final segments of the Grand Parkway (Segments H and I) are scheduled to begin construction sometime in 2017 with an expected completion time of 2021. The builder for Segments H and I are scheduled to be named before the end of 2016.